Use of deuterated gases for the vapor deposition of thin films for low-loss optical devices and waveguides

ABSTRACT

Devices and methods for the vapor deposition of amorphous, silicon-containing thin films using vapors comprised of deuterated species. Thin films grown on a substrate wafer by this method contain deuterium but little to no hydrogen. Optical devices comprised of optical waveguides formed using this method have significantly reduced optical absorption or loss in the near-infrared optical spectrum commonly used for optical communications, compared to the loss in waveguides formed in thin films grown using conventional vapor deposition techniques with hydrogen containing precursors. In one variation, the optical devices are formed on a silicon-oxide layer that is formed on a substrate, such as a silicon substrate. The optical devices of some variations are of the chemical species SiO x N y :D. Since the method of formation requires no annealing, the thin films can be grown on electronic and optical devices or portions thereof without damaging those devices.

[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication Serial No. 60/304,811 filed Jul. 12, 2001, of Frederick G.Johnson, et al., titled “USE OF DEUTERATED GASES FOR THE CHEMICAL VAPORDEPOSITION OF THIN FILMS FOR LOW-LOSS OPTICAL WAVEGUIDES AND DEVICES.”The entirety of that provisional application is incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to the vapor deposition ofsilicon-containing amorphous thin films, and in particular to vapordeposition of silicon-containing non-polymeric amorphous thin films withsignificantly reduced optical absorption (reduced optical loss) in thenear-infrared optical communications wavelength region of about 1.45 to1.65 microns for such uses as in the fabrication of optical devices,such as optical waveguides, ring resonators, arrayed waveguide gratingmultiplexers/demultiplexers, optical add/drop multiplexers, opticalswitches, variable attenuators, and dispersion compensators.

[0004] 2. Background of the Technology

[0005] Conventional vapor deposition methods used for growingsilicon-containing amorphous thin films on substrates for optical deviceapplications typically rely on at least one hydrogen-bearing source gas.For example, silicon-oxide (SiO₂) 1 or silicon-oxynitride (SiO_(x)N_(y))2 thin films, as shown in FIG. 1, are grown on a substrate 3 using lowpressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) (see, e.g., J. Yota, J.Hander, and A. A. Saleh, “A comparative study on inductively-coupledplasma high-density plasma, plasma-enhanced, and low pressure chemicalvapor deposition silicon nitride films,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 18 (2),372 (2000)) or plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) (see,e.g., L. Martinu and D. Poitras, “Plasma deposition of optical films andcoatings: A review,” J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 18 (6), 2619 (2000)). Thesetechniques generally rely on silane (SiH₄) and ammonia (NH₃) as sourcegases for silicon and nitrogen, in combination with an oxygen bearinggas, such as O₂ or N₂O. The resulting as grown SiO_(x)N_(y) filmscontain substantial amounts of hydrogen (2-25%) in the form of Si—H,N—H, and O—H bonds. The presence of atomic hydrogen affects many of thefilm's physical properties, including density, porosity, opticalabsorption, index of refraction, hardness, and stress.

[0006] One problem with near-infrared optical device applications usingthese materials is optical absorption, or loss, in the near-infraredoptical communication wavelength region from 1.45 to 1.65 microns. Theabsorption occurs at least partially due to an effect commonly referredto as “stretching mode”—the motion of atoms that occurs in perpendiculardirections on the same axis, away from each other. As a result, simpleoptical waveguides having a waveguide core consisting of vapor depositedSiO_(x)N_(y) show optical losses of 10 dB/cm and higher for opticalwavelengths near 1.51 microns, which results from optical absorption bythe overtones of the vibrational stretching modes of Si—H and N—H bonds(see, e.g., G. Grand, J. P. Jadot, H. Denis, S. Valette, A. Fournier,and A. M. Grouillet, “Low-loss PECVD silica channel waveguides foroptical communications,” Electronics Letters 26 (25), 2135 (1990)). Inaddition, there is also significant infrared absorption near 1.4microns, resulting from the presence of O—H bonds.

[0007] One way to eliminate this effect is to remove the hydrogen fromthe substance through which the light is being transmitted. A techniquecommonly used to accomplish this removal is to anneal the films at hightemperatures (˜1140° C.), driving as much of the hydrogen from the filmas possible (see, e.g., R. Germann, H. W. M. Salemink, R. Beyeler, G. L.Bona, F. Horst, I Massarek, and B. J. Offrein, “Silicon oxynitridelayers for optical waveguide applications,” Journal of theElectrochemical Society 147 (6), 2237 (2000)). This technique cansubstantially reduce the optical loss in the wavelength region ofinterest to below 1 dB/cm, but at the expense of an additional processstep that can cause shrinkage of the film and introduce significanttensile stress in the film. These effects can create cracks in the filmand bowing of the wafers.

[0008] These effects occur because the annealing temperature is highenough to drive hydrogen atoms out of the film, but not high enough tomelt the film and allow it to flow and reshape. The resulting stretch orbending of the wafer makes the wafer difficult to process usinglithography and standard semiconductor processing techniques. Finally,this process results in a number of dangling bonds of silicon atomsremaining in the film, and if the film is later exposed to sources ofhydrogen, such as water vapor from humidity, the hydrogen can react andreattach to the silicon, eventually resulting in the same problem withabsorption that was present absent annealing.

[0009] Low optical losses at near-infrared wavelengths have beenachieved in organic polymer devices and optical fibers by making use ofdeuterated and halogenated materials, but these methods and devices arenot useful for integrated and other non-polymeric optical devices. (See,e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,680 to S. Imamura; U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,672 toM. Amano; T. Watanabe, N. Ooba, S. Hayashida, T. Hurihara, and S.Imamura “Polymeric optical waveguide circuits formed using siliconeresin,” Journal of Lightwave Technology 16 (6), 1049 (1998); U.S. Pat.No. 6,233,381 to Borrelli et al.) Deuterated gases have also beenapplied to the field of semiconductor electronics to create insulatingand passivation layers in semiconductor transistor devices for suchpurposes as to mitigate hot-electron effects in gate oxides, but thesemethods and devices have no applicability to integrated and othernon-organic optical devices, nor are the purposes for which deuterium isused in semiconductor transistor devices generally useful for producingoptical devices. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,765 to W. F. Clark;U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,280 to D. C. Brady; U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,093 toGregor et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,791 to M. A. DeTar.) Each of thereferences referred to herein is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

[0010] There remains an unmet need to provide optical devices, includingnon-polymeric passive optical devices and integrated optical devicesthat have low optical losses at selected wavelengths. There is a furtherneed to provide devices and methods of making devices for use withwaveguides on wafers, such as planar lightwave circuits, includingcircuits with multiple devices connected by waveguides on a singlewafer, that incorporate other processes than annealing and overcome theproblems with this technique.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention relates to optical devices, includingintegrated optical devices, and methods for fabrication via vapordeposition of non-polymeric, silicon-containing thin films using vaporsources, such as deuterated liquids, comprised of deuterated species.With embodiments of the present invention, thin films are grown on asubstrate to form optical devices or portions thereof that have at leastone deuterium containing layer. These devices have significantly reducedoptical absorption or loss in the near-infrared optical spectrum, whichis the spectrum commonly used for optical communications, compared tothe loss in waveguides formed in thin films grown using conventionalvapor deposition techniques and hydrogen containing precursors.

[0012] The devices produced in accordance with embodiments of thepresent invention have deuterium in place of hydrogen within bonds forthe formed films. Deuterium, which is an isotope of hydrogen that has aneutron in its nucleus, vibrates within bonds with other atoms atfrequencies different from hydrogen in the same bonds. This differencein frequency results from the increased mass of deuterium over hydrogen.Because of the different frequency of vibration of the deuterium inthese bonds, relative to hydrogen, different wavelengths of energy,including light, are absorbed within the materials formed usingdeuterium than the wavelengths absorbed by the same materials whenhydrogen is present. Deuterium used in the formation of optical devicesin accordance with the present invention results in shifts of energypeaks for these materials, such that the primary band of wavelengths tobe transmitted, in the 1.45 to 1.65 micron range, are no longer absorbedby the material of these devices.

[0013] In one embodiment of the present invention, deuterated gases(gases and vapors are used interchangeably herein), such as SiD₄ and ND₃(D being deuterium), serving as precursors, along with a gaseous sourceof oxygen, such as nitrous-oxide (N₂O) or oxygen (O₂), are used for thechemical vapor deposition of silicon-oxynitride (SiO_(x)N_(y):D) orother non-polymeric thin films on a cladding. The cladding is composed,for example, of silicon oxide (SiO₂), phosphosilicate glass, fluorinatedsilicon oxide, or SiO_(x)N_(y):D having an index of refraction less thanthat of the thin film. In an embodiment of the present invention, thecladding is formed on a substrate, such as silicon, quartz, glass, orother material containing germanium, fused silica, quartz, glass,sapphire, SiC, GaAs, InP, or silicon. In embodiments of the presentinvention, the thin film and the cladding formed on the substrate canvary in thickness and width, depending, for example, on the device beingformed. In embodiments of the present invention, the cladding is formedwith a thickness varying from 2 to 20 microns, and the thin film isformed with a thickness varying from about 0.5 to 5 microns. Otherthicknesses of the cladding and the thin film are also usable inaccordance with the present invention.

[0014] In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, ridgestructures can be formed from the thin deuterium containing films suchas SiO_(x)N_(y), Si₃N₄, or SiO₂, by an etching process, such as reactiveion etching (RIE), to form an optical waveguide, one basic buildingblock of integrated optical devices.

[0015] Embodiments of the present invention include formation of theintegrated or other optical devices on substrates that include or haveformed upon them other electronic or optical devices, or formed portionsthereof, referred to herein as “preformed devices.” These preformeddevices can include, for example, field-effect transistors (FETs), suchas metal-oxide-semiconductor FETs (MOSFETs), electronic amplifiers,preamplifiers, devices containing pn junctions, transformers,capacitors, diodes, laser drivers, lasers, optical amplifiers, opticaldetectors, optical waveguides, modulators, optical switches, or otherelectronic or optical devices. These examples are intended to be merelyillustrative of integrated and other devices upon which the thin film ofthe present invention may be formed. The present invention has theadvantage over the prior art that formation on these devices is possiblebecause no annealing is required, which, in the prior art, potentiallydamages the devices on which the film is grown or otherwise formed.

[0016] In other embodiments of the present invention, rather than asilicon-oxynitride film, silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) or silicon-oxide (SiO₂)films are grown using the techniques of the present invention toeliminate either the oxygen bearing gas or the deuterated ammonia gas,respectively. As with films using silicon-oxynitride, by usingdeuterated gases instead of the hydrogenated versions of silane andammonia (SiH₄ and NH₃), the resulting thin films have virtually zerohydrogen content and instead contain some deuterium.

[0017] Examples of deuterated liquids usable to produce the deuteratedgases include deuterated tetraethoxysilane, deuteratedtetraethylorthosilicate, deuterated hexamethyldisiloxane, deuteratedhexamethyldisilazane, deuterated tetramethoxysilane, and deuteratedtetramethyldisiloxane. Examples of precursors containing deuteriuminclude SiD₄, Si₂D₆, SiDCl₃, SiCl₂D₂, ND₃, GeD₄, PD₃, AsD₃, CD₄, andD₂S.

[0018] Layers may be formed on substrates using deuterated gases, inaccordance with embodiments of the present invention, via any of anumber of chemical vapor deposition and other techniques known in theart for forming thin layers on integrated components, including plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), high density plasma chemicalvapor deposition (HDPCVD), low pressure chemical vapor deposition(LPCVD), atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD), jetvapor deposition (JVD), flame hydrolysis, and electron cyclotronresonance (ECR) chemical vapor deposition. Embodiments of the presentinvention include replacing hydrogen atoms and/or molecules in thesource gas species with deuterium in order to virtually eliminate thepopulation of hydrogen in the growth chamber, and the resulting filmsgrown by this method demonstrate complete replacement of incorporatedhydrogen with deuterium atoms.

[0019] Additional advantages and novel features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description that follows, and in part willbecome more apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of thefollowing or upon learning by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0020] In the drawings:

[0021]FIG. 1 is a wafer diagram depicting SiO_(x)N_(y):H and SiO₂ thinfilms with layer thicknesses d₁ and d₂ microns and grown on a substrate,in accordance with the prior art;

[0022]FIG. 2A is a diagram showing a single bond between two atoms ofmass ml and M modeled as a simple harmonic oscillator, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023]FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a single bond between two atoms ofmass m₂ and M modeled as a simple harmonic oscillator, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024]FIG. 3A shows a diagram of a 2 μm thick and 3 μm wide opticalwaveguide core formed from a SiO_(x)N_(y):D film with air and SiO₂cladding regions and grown on a substrate, such as a silicon substrate,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025]FIG. 3B shows a diagram of a 2 μm thick and 3 μm wide opticalwaveguide core formed from a SiO_(x)N_(y):D film with SiO₂ and othercladding regions and grown on a substrate, such as a silicon substrate,in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

[0026]FIG. 4 presents a graph of propogation loss in dB/cm for thewaveguide structure shown in FIG. 3, formed from unannealed PECVD grownSiON:D with an index of refraction of 1.59, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Embodiments of the present invention include use of one or moredeuterated gases or vapors for the chemical vapor deposition of thin,inorganic, glassy films for low-loss near-infrared optical waveguides inthe fields of optics and photonics.

[0028] Formed optical layers, such as PECVD grown SiO_(x)N_(y) usingconventional silane and ammonia, normally contain between 5% and 25%atomic content of hydrogen. This hydrogen exists as Si—H, O—H, and N—Hbonds within the film. In SiO_(x)N_(y), the stretching vibrational modesof Si—H bonds exist in a band around 2200 cm⁻¹, and the stretchingvibrational modes of N-H bonds exist in a band around 3350 cm⁻¹ (see,e.g., J. Yeh and S.C. Lee, “Structural and optical properties ofamorphous silcon oxynitride,” J. Appl. Phys. 79 (2), 656 (1996)). Theresulting mid-infrared absorption data show strong peaks at theseenergies. More importantly, however, the second overtone of the Si—Hvibration and the first overtone of the N—H vibration are in thenear-infrared spectral region of interest for optical communicationapplications, around 1.51 microns. The stretching vibrational modeassociated with the O—H bond also displays significant absorption around1.4 micron wavelengths.

[0029] The physics of the harmonic oscillation of atoms within bonds foroptical devices will now be described further with regard to FIGS. 2Aand 2B. As shown in FIG. 2A, two atoms 20, 21, are linked by bond 22. Inthis example, the first atom 20, represented by a lower case m₁, is ahydrogen atom, and the second atom 21, represented by an upper case M,is a larger atom, such as oxygen (O), silicon (Si), or nitrogen (N). InFIG. 2B, the first atom 25, represented by a lower case m₂, is adeuterium atom.

[0030] By using quantum mechanics and a simple model for a harmonicoscillator, the vibrational energy associated with the bond 22 can beshown to be as follows:

E _(vib)=(n+1/2)hcν _(o)  (1)

[0031] where E is energy, n is an integer quantum number, h is Planck'sconstant, c is the speed of light, and ν_(o) is the fundamentalvibrational frequency. The fundamental frequency is given as:

ν_(o)=(1/2πc){square root}{square root over (k(1/m+1/M))}  (2)

[0032] where k is the force constant associated with the bond, mrepresents the mass of either the smaller atom, and M is the mass of thelarger atom. For the case where hydrogen or deuterium is m, theexpression for the vibrational energy can be simplified to:

E _(vib)≈(n+1/2)h(1/2π){square root}{square root over (k/m)}  (3)

[0033] As m is significantly smaller than M (M being the mass of Si, N,or O for the bond discussed in this example). As a result, the relativeinfrared absorption peak energies associated with these vibrations,comparing hydrogen to deuterium, change by roughly the following:$\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}$

[0034] as the hydrogen atom, consisting of one proton and one electronand having an atomic mass of one, is replaced by deuterium, consistingof one proton, one neutron, and one electron and having a mass ofapproximately two times the mass of the hydrogen atom.

[0035] As a result of this relative difference in mass of the smalleratom m₂ 25, as shown in FIG. 2B, when this atom is deuterium, ratherthan the hydrogen atom m₁ 20 of FIG. 2A, the vibrational modesassociated with overtone two of Si-D and overtone one of N-D are shiftedto longer wavelengths and do not appear in the 1.5 micron wavelengthregion, as they would with hydrogen. The nearest stretching vibrationalmode associated with these two bonds with the use of deuterium in placeof hydrogen is the third overtone of Si-D, near 1.61 microns. At shorterwavelengths, the nearest stretching mode is associated with the secondovertone of the stretching mode from O-D and is just below 1.3 microns.The shift in the stretching mode vibrational energy has beendemonstrated in hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a:SiH). The Si—Hvibrational mode energy near 2000 cm⁻¹ has been shown to drop to 1460cm⁻¹ when the hydrogen is replaced with deuterium to create Si-D bonds.(See, e.g., A. Shih, J. L. Yeh, S. C. Lee, and T. R. Yang, “Structuraland electronic differences between deuterated and hydrogenated amorphoussilicon,” J. Appl. Phys. 88 (3), 1684 (2000).)

[0036] One overall result from applying the methods of the presentinvention is a much reduced optical absorption loss in these types ofwaveguides at wavelengths near 1.5 microns, from a value over 10 dB/cmfor substances such as SiON:H to below 1 dB/cm for substances such asSiON:D, which is accomplished without the need for an annealing processstep as required in the prior art. More complex integrated opticaldevices also benefit greatly when made from deuterium containing glassyfilms and similarly have a much reduced insertion loss in the spectralrange near 1.5 micron wavelengths.

[0037] As a result of application of embodiments of the presentinvention, there are little or no absorption features in the spectrum ofinterest, and any loss of energy in devices constructed in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention is dominated by scattering andwaveguide losses. In contrast, similar waveguides formed fromconventional PECVD grown SiON:H subsequent to thermal annealing steps,which reduce the hydrogen content, have greater propagation losses, withthe spectra being dominated by absorption losses.

[0038] An example of formation of a device 30 in accordance with thepresent invention and the results produced will now be described inconjunction with FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4. In this example, as shown in FIGS.3A and 3B, a parallel plate PECVD system was used to deposit a 2 μm thinfilm of SiON:D 31 with a nominal index of refraction of 1.59 at awavelength of 1.55 microns. The film is grown on a cladding 33, such asa 4 μm thick layer of silicon oxide (SiO₂), which is formed on thesurface of a substrate 32, such as a silicon substrate. Embodiments ofthe present invention include formation of the film on a variety ofoptical cladding materials, and other use of optical cladding with thefilm of the present invention. The optical cladding can include any of anumber of materials having a lower index of refraction than the thinfilm forming the optical component. Other example materials includesilicon oxide, phosphosilicate glass, fluorinated silicon oxide, andSiO_(x)N_(y) having a lower index of refraction than the SiO_(x)N_(y):Dforming the thin film. In addition, cladding covers the surface of thethin film 31. This cover cladding, in one embodiment, as shown in FIG.3A is air 35, which has a lower index of refraction than the thin film31. In FIG. 3B, the cover cladding 36 is another material, such as thesame material as the cladding 33 on the substrate 32, or alternativelyanother material having a index of refraction less than that of the thinfilm 31, such as a polymer.

[0039] The deposition conditions for the example shown in FIGS. 3A and3B are as follows: gas flows of 12 sccm N₂O, 7.2 sccm ND₃, and 64 sccmof 2% SiD₄ in an N₂ carrier gas with 10 W of 13.5 MHz radiofrequency(RF), a substrate temperature of 300° C., and a chamber pressure ofabout 300 mTorr. The growth rate for this example was approximately 8nm/min. The wafer is processed to create ridge optical waveguidessimilar in cross-sectional structure to that of the film 31 shown inFIGS. 3A and 3B.

[0040] Testing has been made of devices formed in accordance with thestructure shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The throughput of several waveguidesof varying length has been measured using cutback to determine thepropagation loss across the wavelength region of interest, producing theresults shown in FIG. 4. The spectrum of SiON:D 40 is dominated byscattering and waveguide losses, and there are no apparent absorptionfeatures. For comparison, the propagation loss of waveguides formed fromPECVD deposited SiON:H using non-deuterated gases 41, 42 is also shownin FIG. 4. These waveguides were annealed at 1000° C. for two hours and1050° C. for four hours to reduce the hydrogen content and associatedabsorption losses. The resulting propagation losses for SiON:H 41, 42,respectively, as shown in FIG. 4, are dominated by absorption loss.

[0041] Another embodiment of the present invention includes formation ofthe integrated or other optical devices on other electronic or opticaldevices or formed portions thereof, these preformed devices including,for example, field-effect transistors (FETs), such asmetal-oxide-semiconductor FETs (MOSFETs), electronic amplifiers,preamplifiers, devices containing pn junctions, transformers,capacitors, diodes, laser drivers, lasers, optical amplifiers, opticaldetectors, optical waveguides, modulators, optical switches, or otherelectronic or optical components. These examples are intended to bemerely illustrative of integrated and other devices upon which the thinfilm of the present invention may be formed. Formation on thesepreformed devices is possible using the present invention because noannealing step is required, which, in the prior art, potentially damagesthe devices on which the film is grown or otherwise formed.

[0042] Example embodiments of the present invention have now beendescribed in accordance with the above advantages. It will beappreciated that these examples are merely illustrative of theinvention. Many variations and modifications will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for making integrated opticalcomponents, comprising: forming a non-polymeric thin film using a vapordeposition technique on a cladding, wherein the non-polymeric thin filmcomprises silicon, and wherein the vapor deposition technique includesusing a precursor comprising deuterium.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein forming a non-polymeric thin film on a cladding furthercomprises: forming the cladding on a substrate; and forming thenon-polymeric thin film on the cladding.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the substrate comprises a substance selected from a groupconsisting of silicon, germanium, SiO₂, fused silica, quartz, glass,sapphire, SiC, GaAs, and InP.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein thecladding has a thickness of between about 2 and 20 micrometers.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the cladding comprises silicon oxide.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the non-polymeric thin film comprises oneselected from a group consisting of silicon-oxynitride, silicon nitride,and silicon-oxide.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-polymericthin film has a width of about 3 micrometers.
 8. The method of claim 1wherein the non-polymeric thin film has a thickness of between about 0.5and 5 micrometers.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the vapordeposition technique is selected from a group consisting of plasmaenhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), high density plasma chemicalvapor deposition (HDPCVD), low pressure chemical vapor deposition(LPCVD), electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) chemical vapor deposition,atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD), jet vapordeposition (JVD), and flame hydrolysis.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein forming a non-polymeric thin film using a vapor depositiontechnique on a substrate further includes: obtaining a vapor from adeuterated liquid.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the deuteratedliquid is selected from a group consisting of deuteratedtetraethoxysilane, deuterated tetraethylorthosilicate, deuteratedhexamethyldisiloxane, deuterated hexamethyldisilazane, deuteratedtetramethoxysilane, and deuterated tetramethyldisiloxane.
 12. The methodof claim 1, wherein forming a non-polymeric thin film using a vapordeposition technique on a substrate further includes: providing a gascontaining deuterium.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the precursorcomprising deuterium is selected from a group consisting of SiD₄, Si₂D₆,SiDCl₃, SiCl₂D₂, ND₃, GeD₄, PD₃, AsD₃, CD₄, and D₂S.
 14. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the non-polymeric thin film is of chemical speciesSiO_(x)N_(y):D.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: etchingthe non-polymeric thin film.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein etchingthe non-polymeric thin film comprises: reactive ion etching thenon-polymeric thin film.
 17. The method of claim 15, wherein thenon-polymeric thin film is etched to form an optical waveguide.
 18. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: forming a cladding cover on thesurface of the non-polymeric thin film.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the cladding cover comprises a polymer.
 20. The method of claim1, wherein the substrate comprises a preformed device.
 21. The method ofclaim 20, wherein the preformed device is selected from a groupconsisting of an electronic circuit, an optical circuit, anoptoelectronic circuit, an electronic integrated circuit, or anelectronic device.
 22. The method of claim 20, wherein the preformeddevice comprises at least one compound semiconductor material.
 23. Themethod of claim 22, wherein the at least one compound semiconductormaterial is selected from a group consisting of indium-phosphide,gallium arsenide, gallium nitride, silicon-germanium, andsilicon-carbide.
 24. The method of claim 20, wherein the preformeddevice comprises one selected from a group consisting of a field effecttransistor (FET), a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor(MOSFET), an electronic amplifier, a preamplifier, a pn junction, atransformer, a capacitor, a diode, a laser driver, a laser, an opticalamplifier, an optical detector, an optical waveguide, a modulator, andan optical switch.
 25. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-polymericthin film exhibits a low optical absorptive loss over a wavelengthregion of interest.
 26. The method of claim 25, wherein the wavelengthregion of interest is suitable for optical communications.
 27. Themethod of claim 25, wherein the wavelength region of interest is betweenabout 1.45 and 1.65 microns.
 28. An optical device formed using themethod of claim
 1. 29. A method for making integrated opticalcomponents, comprising: forming a silicon oxide layer on a substrate;and forming a silicon-oxynitride thin film on the silicon oxide layerusing a vapor precursor comprising deuterium.
 30. An optical device,comprising: a cladding; and at least one low absorptive-loss opticalwaveguide formed on the cladding, the waveguide being formed from awafer using vapor deposition, and wherein the wafer comprises anon-polymeric thin film containing deuterium.
 31. The device of claim30, wherein the wafer comprises silicon.
 32. The device of claim 30,wherein the atomic density of the deuterium is between about 0.1% and30% of the atomic density of the non-polymeric thin film.
 33. The deviceof claim 30 wherein the wafer is grown using a deuterated vapor.
 34. Thedevice of claim 30, wherein the waveguide has a waveguide refractiveindex, the device further comprising: an optical clad, the optical cladhaving a clad refractive index, the clad refractive index being lessthan the waveguide refractive index.
 35. The device of claim 34, whereinthe optical clad comprises air.
 36. The device of claim 34, wherein theoptical clad comprises a polymer.
 37. The device of claim 34, whereinthe waveguide exhibits a low optical absorptive loss over a wavelengthregion of interest.
 38. The device of claim 37, wherein the wavelengthregion of interest is suitable for optical communications.
 39. Thedevice of claim 37, wherein the wavelength region of interest betweenabout 1.45 and 1.65 microns.
 40. The device of claim 37, wherein theoptical device is an integrated optical device.
 41. The device of claim40, wherein the integrated optical device is selected from a groupconsisting of an optical waveguide, a mode expander, a ring resonator, avariable attenuator, a dispersion compensator, an arrayed waveguidemultiplexer; an arrayed waveguide demultiplexer, a wavelength divisionmultiplexer, a splitter, a coupler, an optical add/drop multiplexer, achromatic dispersion compensator, a polarization dispersion compensator,and an optical switch.